There were two games at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre (TRAC) on Tuesday night, in the fourth week of the Major Series Lacrosse #MSLClassic.
Game one was Owen Sound (2-3) against the Oakville Rock (2-4), while game two had the Six Nations Chiefs (3-3) facing the Brooklin Lacrosse Club (5-1) in what was set to be two very exciting games.
All four teams have been using much younger lineups in this tournament than we have been used to seeing, but the play has been exceptional. The future is very bright for the league.
The Goaltending match-up was a battle of Rochester Knighthawks goalies…Rylan Hartley for Owen Sound, and Craig Wende playing for the Oakville Rock.
First Quarter:
A back and forth affair with both teams getting opportunities, but defenses standing tall is how the game begun. Dan Lintner opened the scoring for the Rock at 9:15 on the power play, but that was all the scoring in the quarter.
After one quarter, Oakville 1, Owen Sound 0.
Second Quarter:
Alec Tamas opened the second quarter scoring in transition for Oakville, followed by Tanner Buck and Brandon Slade with a nice give and go for the Rock’s third goal. Sam English added to the lead for Oakville, but goals by Campbell Parker, and Keegan White for Owen Sound narrowed the score to just two. Tyler Halls scored again for Owen Sound, and we had a one goal game.
Owen Sound kept pressing, scoring four more unanswered goals to take them to the half with a commanding lead.
At the half, Owen Sound 7, Oakville 4
Third Quarter:
Oakville started the half with a goaltending change. Craig Wende was replaced by Nick Rose.
Owen Sound picked up where they left off with two more quick goals to start the quarter. Things settled down a little but Mike Fiegehen scored followed by Keegan White with another, increasing the Owen Sound run to eleven straight goals.
Zak Kearney finally stopped the Owen Sound run with an inside out move for the Rock goal to make the score 11-5.
After three quarters, Owen Sound 11 Oakville 5
Fourth Quarter:
Oakville opened the quarter with Ryan Lanchbury firing a howitzer past Rylan Hartley, but Owen Sound answered back with two quick goals. Alex Kew scored for Oakville, but Kyle Dawson replied for Owen Sound making it a 14-7 score.
A lot of back and forth play for the remainder of the quarter, but didn’t result in any scoring.
Final score, Owen Sound 14, Oakville 7.
The goaltending match-up was Warren Hill for Six Nations vs. Zach Higgins in net for Brooklin.
First Quarter:
Ryan Keenan put two quick goals in giving Brooklin an early 2-0 lead. Nonkon Thompson cut the lead in half for the Chiefs, but a Connor Kearnan gave Brooklin a two goal lead once again. Ryan Keenan completed his hat-trick, followed by Kearnan with a quick stick to make the score 5-1. Tyler Brown got one back for Six Nations, and that was how the quarter ended.
After one quarter, Brooklin 5, Six Nations 2.
Second Quarter:
The game opened up with both teams getting good chances, but for the goaltending of Hill, and Higgins, the score would be much higher.
Jake Fox opened the second quarter scoring during four on four play for Brooklin, but Brandon Bomberry got that back on a delayed penalty making the score 6-3. Ty Thompson fired an outside shot past Warren Hill, but Sam LeClair scoring on his own rebound, followed by Kaleb Hill, and Tehoka Nanticoke made this a one goal game.
At the half, Brooklin 7, Six Nations 6.
Third Quarter:
Just 1:44 into the quarter Kedoh Hill scored to tie the game up 7-7.
The game got a bit chippy, with both teams taking penalties, but solid penalty killing kept the score tied.
Brooklin got a pair near the end of the quarter, but a Kedoh Hill lazer made it a one goal game heading to the fourth.
After three quarters, Brooklin 9, Six Nations 8.
Fourth Quarter:
Two quick power play goals by Brooklin gave them a little breathing room to start the fourth 11-8, followed by Ryan Keenan with his fifth of the night, increasing the lead even further. Connor Kearnan scored to make it 13-8, but Tehoka Nanticoke, followed by Kedoh Hill kept the Chiefs in the game 13-10.
Zack Deaken scored on the fast break for Brooklin, followed by a strange one…On a delayed penalty, Adam Bomberry fired a shot off the back glass, the ricochet came back and hit Higgins in the back and dropped into the net for the Chiefs. Six Nations continued their comeback with four more goals, including the game winner with just 0:32 seconds left from Nonkon Thompson to complete the comeback.
Final score, Six Nations 15, Brooklin 14.
Gary Groob has been involved with Lacrosse for the majority of his life, whether playing, coaching, or covering the sport for the media.
An avid fan, with a real drive about helping to “grow the game”, Gary became part of podcasts about the game in 2010. Through the podcasts, Mr. Groob was given an opportunity to write about lacrosse, and the rest as they say, is history.
Through many miles (flying and driving) Gary has made inroads with the National Lacrosse League, Major Series Lacrosse League, the Ontario Lacrosse Association, as well as the Arena Lacrosse League, covering the leagues, their teams, and players, working for, and in concert with all of them.
In the year 2020, Mr. Groob was made the media person for the Arena Lacrosse League, voted onto the board of directors of the Brampton Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, as well as being made administrator of the Lacrosse page “Global Lacrosse” with a membership of 9000 members in over 90 Countries. Gary was also made an administrator of Lacrosse History Past Present and Future in 2022.
Mr. Groob co-hosts a weekly Lacrosse show on Spanglish Sports World, and ZingoTV channel 250, as well as writes a weekly lacrosse column for La Portada Canada News (both in print, and online).
Gary also hosts a Lacrosse talk show and podcast for The Edge of Philly Sports Network, seen live Sunday nights at 9pm (ET), and archived on the Edge of Philly YouTube page, as well as Spotify.
Mr. Groob’s other sports interests include Hockey, Football, Boxing, Wrestling, and Baseball, competing competitively in Boxing and Wrestling for many years.
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